Lawmakers Opposed to Trump's Tariffs Look to Courts to Step In

The news of Flake's bill comes just one week after President Trumpannounced he would place 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum from all countries that send metal to the U.S.

Congressional GOP leaders have signaled they want to narrow the administration's steel and aluminum tariffs before they are implemented, the same day President TrumpDonald John TrumpAccuser says Trump should be afraid of the truth Woman behind pro-Trump Facebook page denies being influenced by Russians Shulkin says he has White House approval to root out "subversion" at VAMORE pushed forward with the measures despite widespread GOP backlash.

Host Chuck Todd asked, "Do you think he needs to be challenged from somebody who espouses your views?" "I understand that it's a challenge on the campaign trail, certainly", Flake said.

The Arizona Republican explained that he couldn't get re-elected in his party right now because he believes in free trade and has expressed reservations towards the president, who is a member of his party. "But that's not to say it will stay that way".

Last year, he wrote a book rebuking his own Republican Party for embracing Trump-style nationalism and protectionism at the expense of traditional conservative values such as free trade.

Trump fantasized about running against television personality and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey in the 2020 presidential election, floated the idea of reaching peace with North Korea and promoted his new tariffs. But the politics make it more complicated. Furthermore, using "national security" as an excuse to unilaterally impose tariffs opens the door for other countries to do the same - allowing them to bypass long-established global trade rules to gain an unfair advantage over American businesses and workers.

"Of course this will have to go through the usual litigation process, either the WTO or the courts to see how this works", Cornyn said at an energy conference in Houston.

"I don't blame my colleagues for just saying, 'Hey, you know, I'm just not going to comment anymore.' But I think it's our responsibility at least at some point when he goes so far to stand up and say, 'This is not normal. We should not normalize this behavior'".